You know those things that take you out of yourself and help you realise things aren’t quite as bad as they feel…..
Glimmers are small moments that make us feel a sense of calm, connection, peace, and safety. They are the little things we notice that instantly elevate our mood, even when we are feeling down or are in the midst of a bad day.Source
Well, visiting friends with acreage at Silvan up in the hills last week, this appeared on the horizon.
A little zoom in and those distinctive colours ‘rainbow’ colours became more apparent
Much much better when visible in real life….not a full arch but enough to put a smile on my (and my friend’s) face…..and forget all our troubles and woes😊
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet – almost but not quite
We woke to this yesterday morning…….yes this is tropical Nth Queensland but it’s supposed to be the dry season….
No golf for the man and nothing planned for me so it was a slow start to the day. Cuppa tea? Yes please. Toast ok? Yes please, that’ll do fine.
Vegemite x 1 – Marmalade x 1 – followed by Fruit Loaf x 2? Ooh, Yes please…..
And then what did he do but bring it over to the bed…..
Rule of the house- no food in the bed/room. Which is a bit hard to abide by here as it’s just a big kitchen/living room/ bedroom all in one😊
The bed part could’ve be met……unless you’re really hungry and someone hands it to you on a plate (and we all know that …..sometimes…..rules are made to be broken 🤭)
All gone!
No worries about rain stopping play though…….I definitely had plenty to keep me busy
Like the change in season bringing these colourful parrots into the garden. Trouble is they like the Lilly Pilly – the one at the bottom of the garden (at least 20m/65’ away) – but never stay still, flitting around in amongst the leaves and branches trying to find the ‘best berries’ ……then as soon as I start move down off the deck to get closer they’re off and away. There were several in the tree, one stayed after the others left so here’s a very lucky, very long distance shot when I happened to have my phone handy
tr, adverb – to pass (time) idly and usually pleasantly…….source
When I was crook the other week I found it difficult to settle myself and concentrate on anything I tried to do
Reading didn’t go to plan because I’d keep nodding off instead of turning pages……the knitting didn’t fare so well either so that was put to one side. Crosswords and jigsaws were also non starters
I’ve had a little game app on my iPad for quite a while now…….one of those impulse downloads you mean to delete but never get round to it……it’s similar to ‘painting by numbers’ ……without getting wet. Choose a number- tap the highlighted area and Hey Presto it changes colour!
Yes, I know it sounds a bit old fashioned , but because it’s so easy to use –
turning grey/white designs like these into what one friend described as ‘works of art’ but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that – it’s also jolly good fun……. the developers describe it as a relaxing coloring book …..I’d also say it’s very ‘moreish’ (addictive even) in that once you finish one design you feel the need to start another almost immediately
Anyway I started tapping away filling in coloured areas one afternoon and became so carried away wanting to see what I could come up with next I didn’t realise how much time had passed until The Golfer asked – ‘what’s for tea’? . Tea ……he’d only just eaten lunch, how could he want more food?
It turned out I was in my own little world an awful lot longer than I realised…….this is what appeared when the ‘work’ was saved!
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Well, the week got off to a good start with another of our children becoming eligible for a seniors card…..yes ‘our little girl’ turned 60. That would make me……old enough to be her mother😊. Although I do wonder where all those years went from the time she was just a little one in Singapore.
A little gathering that evening gave me a chance to chat with the new ‘householder’ – ‘oh it’s terraced I said… (party walls – very close neighbours)……. “no grandma it’s an ‘open plan townhouse’ and out the back, at the end of our ‘little enclosed garden’ we have a 2car garage “ (very important for 2 car families, means no street parking – and all the associated problems)
“it might be small grandma but it’s all ours. We could have gone for a larger ‘fixer upper’ but we don’t have the time so this’ll do us for a while”
So we’re off to visit her some time soon – about 40 mins away – and unload……pass on – several sets of wine glasses, a set of kitchen scales as well as various other items that haven’t been used by us for quite a while. Much better than the op shop!. She does know and has approved ‘the donation’
Out to the warm water pool very early on a very cool Tuesday morning. Bliss!. Same others there as before walking to and fro. Natter, natter, natter This week’s cryptic overhead comment – “she’ll be sorry she ever met him”. .
Had a few chats with residents on Wednesday because due to a ‘mix up’ …their’s not mine….the scheduled ‘new’ activity didn’t take place. Learnt of several losses as well as several new arrivals, so I’ve some ‘getting to know you’ chats coming up. I did have a little smile when someone mentioned that XXX was now ‘safe in the arms of Jesus’…..it was an expression my granny (Dad’s mum) in Belfast used, was placed in death notices and inscribed at the bottom of the headstone.
Old online photo – more recent ones (after cleanup) have family in them
Then on Thursday we were off out for a quick drive up the road to Healesville. Seeing people’s dams so full was a sign of the wet Winter (and continuing Spring) weather in these parts, here’s hoping they won’t dry up too quickly once Summer’s heat arrives
And seeing the vineyard gangs out at work was a reminder that farming in whatever form is an all year round all weather occupation. They look to be working on a block of fairly new plantings (still have protective covers/sleeves on so maybe put in last Autumn) you can just make out the new growth on the older vines in the background and on the hillside if the photo’s enlarged.
Even though it was a chilly wet day we wanted to continue our ‘occasional lunch dates’ so it was lunch at the RSL…..definitely not as large abranch as elsewhere but has reasonably cheap cheerful and not too bad lunch deals……after seeing someone else’s (yes, I’m that person who looks at the plates going past my table) I had a chicken snitzel. Good choice, proper chicken – not those pressed forms some places serve plus cooked just right. Why do some places think it’s ok to serve very crispy, very dark brown, almost burnt offerings – because the fat was much too hot?!
Lunch was followed by coffee at you know who’s club a short drive away…….sorry no palm trees. Just miles and miles of National Park….that’s …a very shaky looking range of hills with Mount Riddell further to the ‘right’ ….through a dirty windscreen. (Someone went over the speed hump just as I tapped the phone 🙁)
***** To round the week off Friday afternoon was Book Club #2. The one where we all read the same book (chosen by the library). These ladies are all so very different to my ‘other group’ – far more serious- sometimes I wonder if it’s my thing but then they do help me understand that what one reader may take from a book is not always the same as another. And the ‘new leader’ puts on such a fabulous afternoon tea I’d miss going just for that😊. ****.
With just two events on the calendar for this week coming I’m hoping it doesn’t change and turn out to be as busy as the one just gone We need time for sitting and pondering and I didn’t get to do much of that so wish me luck!.
How was your week…..busier than you liked…..or slower than you enjoy
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Linking with Min’s weekly feature – Wednesday Words and Whimsy – you’ll find the link HERE at the end of Min’s posts
If we eat out many more times I’ll have forgotten how to cook by the time we get home😊. A fabulous curry – King prawn salad – plus Spanish mackerel & calamari rings all came my way during the last week!
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Lunch for our day out in Ayr was at the Anzac Memorial Club (RSL) so food was what I call pub style. Basic, good value, usually pretty good. Best ‘no name’ curry I’ve had for a while – and so much of it. Doggy Bags were allowed (not always the case in some restaurants) so half of my enormous serve came ‘home’ with me. ******. Sunday saw us down at the marina having a fabulous lunch fresh off the boat at Birds Fish Bar. Quiet and almost empty when we arrived- busy, tables filled with families when we left
It’s changed a lot over the years, renovated after the COVID restrictions (no more BYO – they have a liquor license now- deters the noisy ones they say)……the fishing boats still tie up out the back and ‘deliver to the door’….can’t get fresher than that!
****. And then this week there was one of our ‘special treats’ – Lunch at The Cove……the restaurant in the white building visible (far left side) across the bay from here at Queens Beach.
Certainly not posh by ‘big city standards’…… Simple decor, very basic tables and chairs, good food, well priced menu, open to the outside but protected…..with views to enjoy over and over again.
Oh, and when I start mentioning clothes that are shrinking and I’ve no idea why, you can all smile and nod knowingly 😊😊😊
Sharing with Min and others at Wednesday Words and Whimsy – HERE
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There’s a reason I enjoy this little bay I visit several times during the week. It’s more secluded than some of the other beaches and because of where it’s situated it never seems as windy as the other more open beaches it’s also fairly flat so there’s no ‘drop’ in the ocean floor which means it’s ‘safe’ for children (they can play along the shoreline without the worry of them falling into a big hole)
These are all recent ‘early morning’ pictures – the tide times will be changing slowly and as the days go by there’ll be water further up on the sands when I arrive. Won’t be so far to go to dip my toes and wander along the shoreline…..at the moment the sea’s a fraction too cool for my liking, give it a week or two and my bathing suit ‘might’ get wet 😊
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When the tide is this low there are little shallow pools left in amongst those rocks where the children are sitting. Just right for babies and toddlers to enjoy the water – as well as adults and family dogs
Unfortunately a very high tide last week brought with it oodles of seaweed which covered the whole of the beach area. It’s slowly drying off and will float away soon.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned before it’s only a couple of kms away so I’m there shortly after 9am and leave about 10.45……and as The Golfer gets back about 11 (from you know where) it works out well. Not too late for a mid morning coffee…..I realise that doesn’t sound long but it’s enough for me to relax and enjoy the fresh sea air as well as the sunshine without being ‘stupid’ about it. It’s only just warming up at that time, maybe about 18-20c/68f, but it’ll get warmer as the day goes by.
9.45am Sunday July 14
Yes I like the sun and its warmth but I’m not into all day affairs. I can enjoy it here by the cabin knowing the indoors is just a step away.
We stay in Queens Beach (see red dot) Rose Bay is over to the right (by the #10)
Enjoy your days wherever you are – whatever the season whatever the weather
The Golfer’s friend was an Irishman. A lover of life, of people, of warm weather and travel plus golf …just some of things they shared in common.
TG and D – Bowen 2008
He was also a lover of music – especially ‘Folk Music’ – which he described as a different form of storytelling. He once told me being able to compere festivals – the National Folk Fest and Port Fairy being a couple – presenting musicians/artists to the ‘world’ was an honour
As was being a broadcaster with Radio Adelaide’s Folk Show for many many years He was a great believer in community radio as you can hear in this small clip from a longer interview
********. It was a quiet funeral, simple not overstated. No ‘readings’ just some words from family and friends – music was a little bit of soft fiddle during the photo slide show and……
This song (sung by Ceol – an Irish folk band) played at the end as people were leaving….
……there’s a session in the corner……I don’t want to leave…..I don’t want to go…..can’t stay here and I can’t go home…….one more tune, one more tune is all we want….…give me one more for the road…..
That virus (or whatever it was I had) certainly got the better of me and lots of things went by the wayside including (blog and book) reading and knitting so I ended up only making a half dozen of the fair isle beanies – a small effort compared to a couple of years ago for a different charity. I popped In (masked) for a short while the night they were ‘due’, only stopping long enough to hear what the next challenge’ was.
“Now you all know 4 year old boys don’t want to be little kids – they strive to be big ‘uns. . . trouble is they’re too old for toddler type clothing yet sometimes older styles don’t look quite right on them. Let’s get the grey matter working and see what we can come up with”
It took me a little while dithering around before deciding that my contribution will be a jumper along the lines of The Trio – which will also be a way of using up some of the ordinary ‘run of the mill’ acrylic I favour. It may not be top of the range (remember my run in with the yarn snobs) but it knits well (wears well is what I’ve heard from others with children) and – unlike the red acrylic my ‘friend’ asked me to use – is soft..not scratchy.
A touch of Aran means there’ll be small 4st/4row cables and columns of ‘knit/purl through the backs’ that are crossed at times plus honeycomb up the middle – plain side edges, back and sleeves though….because it’s easier (and less bulky) 😊
And this is what came home from the library the other day Perfect to keep me company between rows as I set the pattern Kaffe Fassett in the Studio
I wish I could remember the name of those yellow roses – they and most of the others were planted about 15years ago….as per usual I never wrote it/them down and labels don’t last that long – so I just enjoy them for what they are each year. The spring flush is coming to an end. Some very hot days, cold wet ones as well as windy ones have given us a mix of blooms with old, current and a few ‘promises of what’s to come’ on all the bushes at the same time
The Old and The New on a background of Erigon and Arctotis. All will be having their summer haircuts very soon
****** Wednesday Words &Whimsy can be found HERE. ****** Also being Wednesday it’s time to thank Kat for hosting Unraveled Wednesday
More birthday treats – we had lunch in Healesville last week at a ‘new to us’ place imaginatively called No.7 Healesville……their street number is 7 🙂
The beauty of using gift vouchers is they often take you out of your comfort zone…specialising in Mexican fare using a shared plate system this definitely wasn’t a run of the mill pub lunch affair. I enjoyed it so much I nearly forgot to catch some food photos 😊
My almost finished serving of Thyluda, avocado, pea, baked ricotta, herbs – on the plate Silver trevally ceviche, pineapple vinaigrette, cucumber, purslane – in the bowl
Eaten outside under a big brolly on a sunny but not too hot day it was surprising how filling seven small courses plus wine and coffee was – my very ladylike comment when I got in the car was “Don’t drive off yet, I need to loosen my trousers, I’m stuffed”
Not my photo
Outside table tops made from what appeared to be rough slabs of concrete!
Just wondering if we enjoyed it enough to return as ‘paying customers’…will have to think about that. What new experiences have you had recently?
It’s ’consult the calendar‘ time again. Time to think about next year’s activities.
This year’s choir (a half hour drive away) is minus a leader – my previous one (ten minutes down the road) the one that was in abeyance is now going to resume rehearsals on the same day as before.
I dislike not knowing what’s going to happen- will they secure a new conductor- do I sign up again and then be disappointed when the class is cancelled or go with the known option, return to a very ‘happy’ casual group who delight in singing without pressure on them to ‘get it right’. . One of those little things that had me smiling and feeling good at the end of sessions with the local group was the leader/conductor saying “Away you go and have fun” and then the accompanist ‘playing us out’. She’d play a little medley while we packed up, always finishing with a cheerful rendition of Marie’s Wedding aka Lewis Bridal Song ( which of course had everyone singing along) – then almost skipping out the door.
Such a jolly toe tapping tune with words that make you smile – thinking about the person they are off to see and all the gifts (real and imaginary) they have for her.
It’s been recorded by so many individuals and groups ( there’s even a Wiggles version😊 ) – – each makes it ‘their own’. I know I’ve added quite a few here – obviously you don’t have to watch all But it’s good to compare – and enjoy
I have a special liking for steam trains. They’ve always fascinated me. Doesn’t matter where I see them or in what form – real or imaginary – there’s something about them that always puts a little smile on my face, a feeling of excitement. I suppose it’s sort of in the genes – my paternal grandfather was on the railways in Ireland (most of the males in his family were as well) Like his brother he ‘rose up through the ranks’ to become an engine driver but others were engine firemen, station masters, porters and a generation before ‘gangers’
The engines always look like big monsters needing all that coal and water to make the steam to ‘turn the wheels’. I’m not that cluey to understand how it works but THIS might help if you really would like to know
This mural is in George Street Bowen depicting locomotives used in Queensland. B1079 – – – C17
I’ve no idea aka I can’t remember why we were at Spencer Street Station so early but this was a a real surprise. Steamrail were obviously having a day trip / tour somewhere. Hissing and steaming, providing photo opportunities, putting smiles on peoples faces, promising a good time for all.
Min is now hosting a Wednesday link up – Wednesday Words & Whimsy. Why not drop in HERE and see who her visitors are – perhaps you’d like to join in as well
Tiggers Mum is on a short work related detachment to Singapore and I’ve been reliving old memories from when we lived there in the 1960s. Katong was where we called home
And for some reason I just have a hankering for this – Katong Laksa
Two very fuzzy photos from recent visits to the home of Katong Laksa.
December 2013
November 2017
So it’s six years since our last time there think we might be due for another trip 😊😎
Another rearranging of volunteers – positions – days – has me agreeing to coming in on a Monday and trying something new Actually I’ll be doing two jobs….. .
One week I’ll be assisting the hairdresser
On the alternate week I’ll be assisting the ‘tour leader’ on outings to local cafes
I’ll still be listening, talking, laughing, comforting, encouraging, entertaining, guiding, reassuring (and many more things) – just in a different setting. Sounds good to me!
Had a little note from a choir ‘friend’ telling me this is what we (girls) will be rehearsing next term. Quite a haunting tune and we’ll be singing it in its original language (hopefully sounding a little like these singers).
Song of the Beach (seashore) – Japanese folk song. Sung by KRAJA – a Swedish group
It’s Monday and we’re about to start our journey home, today we’ll begin making our way south down the east coast on the Bruce, 500+kms to Rockhampton. Then there’s another 2,000 km after that 😊😎
I said to The Golfer I thought now was right time to go home, it really has become a bit on the warm side and humid as well…yes Melbourne can become hot and have its humid days but they’re not normally continuous one after the other. We’ll just have to see what summer brings won’t we😎
Anyway guess what I’ll be missing during the six hour drive??
I’ll be back sometime soon – will have a wee break after we get home
Still Waters 